Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem toured El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center on Wednesday. The prison is holding hundreds of alleged criminal illegal aliens deported earlier this month under the Trump administration.
She walked through the facility with Salvadoran Minister of Justice Héctor Gustavo Villatoro. Later, she met with President Nayib Bukele. This visit is part of her three-day trip, which also includes stops in Colombia and Mexico.
Video footage captured Noem facing off with alleged Tren de Aragua gang members. The inmates were shirtless, heads shaved, and dressed in white prison pants.
She didn’t hold back during her visit. “First of all, do not come to our country illegally: You will be removed, and you will be prosecuted,” she said, standing in front of the inmates. “But know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.”
Noem posted the footage on X. “President Trump and I have a clear message to criminal illegal aliens: LEAVE NOW,” she wrote. “If you do not leave, we will hunt you down, arrest you, and you could end up in this El Salvadorian prison.”
Bukele opened the prison in 2023 to crack down on violent street gangs. The facility has eight huge pavilions and can house up to 40,000 inmates. Each cell holds around 65 to 70 prisoners.
The inmates are locked inside permanently — no visitors, no outside time. There are no education programs or work opportunities.
A senior Trump official told Fox News that 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador on March 15. Most were removed under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows deportation without a hearing during wartime.
Over 100 Venezuelans were deported using Title 8, the official said. Twenty-one were MS-13 gang members, including two ringleaders El Salvador had specifically requested.
Video from the Salvadoran government showed the men in shackles arriving at the airport. Riot gear-clad officers lined the tarmac as the prisoners exited the planes.
Inside the prison, footage showed the men kneeling while getting their heads shaved. They were then put into white uniforms and placed into packed cells.
El Salvador has been in a state of emergency for nearly three years. Fundamental rights are suspended as Bukele fights gang violence. Around 84,000 people have been jailed so far, many without due process.
When U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited in February, Bukele offered to house deported U.S. criminals. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed.
On March 16, President Trump thanked Bukele on Truth Social. He wrote the U.S. “will not forget” the partnership and slammed “incompetent Democrat leadership” for letting the crisis happen.